Collective Soul: Reinvented For 2005

It's been four years since Georgia Grunge quintet Collective Soul's rock smashes have been heard on the airwaves. With over a decade of rock and roll experience under their belts, the band members have returned to their roots and become reinvigorated with their newest release "Youth". Collective Soul has spent the last four years writing, scrapping and re-writing songs to deliver to you what they consider to be their best stuff yet. They are back with a new do-it-yourself attitude and are ready to reintroduce themselves to their patiently awaiting fans.

Collective Soul enthusiasts got a dose of the anticipated 7th release when it hit stores in November. Here, for new and returning fans, is your chance to tune in as we talk with guitarist Dean Roland, brother to Ed Roland (lead vocals/keyboards/guitars), and band mate to Will Turpin (bass/percussion), Shane Evans(drums/percussion) and newcomer Joel Kosche(guitar).

TeenMusic.com: Hi Dean. Where are you calling us from?

Dean: I am in between Nashville and Atlanta. We're leaving tomorrow to go to Park City. I drove up to see my manager, he lives in Nashville. I'm in a car cruising. It was dangerous trying to get your number out of my sidekick and drive with my knee at the same time. (laughs)

TeenMusic.com: Whoa, don't let us make you crash. Why did you take almost four years off? What did you do during that time?

Dean: We haven't put a record out or been out in the public eye for four years. Some of it was time off and some of it was just dealing with life. There was all kinds of stuff going on. There was some good stuff and some bad stuff (we didn't pry). We actually recorded almost two CD's worth of music and scrapped it and finally got the one we wanted. That was one reason too (for the long break). We wanted to put the best stuff that we had out.

Dean: It just felt like was time. Like I said we tried to record the music a couple of different times and it wasn't working and we finally got some songs that we felt really great about. Then we knew it was time and we put our own record label together. The music first came together and then the business side of it followed shortly thereafter. It just happened on its own really.

Dean: The EL Music Group. Yeah we want to sign someone eventually but right now we're just focusing on our record. We're working out the kinks and making sure we know what the heck we're doing before we bring someone else in. That's the long-term vision for it.

Dean: I enjoyed my time (off). I moved to California and I didn't really do a whole lot. I spent a lot of time thinking and reading, seeing friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. Just living. I missed playing shows because I love that connection and I love being out and travelling. From (the time I was) 20 to 30 years, old I was out, I was gone. It was a nice change.

Dean: Sure. I think there's definitely an element of that, re-establishing and starting from the ground up. Which is fine. I love the thought of building, not really starting from the ground up because there's still a foundation, but essentially we are and I love the thought of adding on to what we've done over the previous ten years.

Dean: He's from not quite our hometown but really close. We've worked with him over the years. He has an engineering mind. He builds amps and he played in other bands around Atlanta. When the opportunity came, he was like the first person that came to our mind and it's been seamless for almost four years now. It's been great.

Dean: On a couple of different (levels). His personality is so even-keel and laid back and there's no ego. I don't know if you're familiar with how a lot of bands work but so often egos get in the way and it's terrible and they end up breaking up. He doesn't have any of that. He's very much a team player. It's very much about the music and about what we're doing and just enjoying it and not getting caught up in any one thing. We are really blessed to do what we do. We get to make music for a living and play it.

Dean: We kind of went back to where we started. That was sort of the intent; stripping it back and going to our roots. Back to that re-building phase that we were just talking about and incorporating new fresh ideas. We brought in a guy named Dexter Green to produce it with us and he brought in a different perspective on things which is good because we've been producing our records for so long that you box yourself in at some point, creatively. That's when it's nice to have somebody come in and say "You need to step out of that box and try some other things." It worked out good.

Dean: When we finally started making music that we really felt good about it kind of brings back that feeling of what it was like when we first started being a band. That it was fun again and we really enjoyed it and it wasn't a task or something that we had to do. It was more like "Wow I enjoyed that and I want to do it".

Dean: "Youth" of course. My favourite record, I mean there's different elements of each one that I really love, (but) "Dosage" which is our fourth is probably my overall favourite. "Youth" I want to say because I think it really has some of the best songs we've ever done. It's almost cliché as an artist to say "My new record's the best" but some of the songs on there are the best we've ever done. I try to say that as objectively as I can.

Dean: The record came out in November and we've been doing a lot of promo stuff, on the radio, and interviews, and CNN and lots of shows. We took January off because not much really happens but in February we'll start again. We'll do a full on tour and we'll take it worldwide. We'll go international probably in the fall. Right now we've been playing a lot of smaller club dates and small theatres just to kind of get our feet wet again and almost re-introduce ourselves to our fans because it has been so long.

Dean: It's different. When you play a small club it's really intimate and I really do love that. I love being able to see people's faces and see them singing the songs and there's that immediate exchange. In a bigger venue or arena it's harder but it's also an amazing feeling to walk out and hear 10, 000 people. It's a good feeling.

Dean: We've had the normal stalkers over the years. We have a few fans that will go to every show no matter where it is and that's cool. Then there's some that cross certain boundaries. We had one that would write books about us and put us as the characters and the books started to get really violent and we thought, "That ain't good." You try not to pay too much attention to it but it can get a little weird.

Dean: Yeah of course! I think I have the best job in the world.

Dean: I hope that people check out our new album and I hope that the feeling we had making this record translates into how much fun we had making it and how much fun we have playing it. And we look forward to seeing everybody out on the road.

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